The Vice President and Minister of Energy Transition and Productive Sectors and Democratic Memory, Juan Pedro Yllanes, and the Director-General of Energy and Climate Change, Pep Malagrava, visited the construction site of the new solar photovoltaic plant in Son Reus this Friday, which is co-financed by ERDF funds and has an installed capacity of 12.53 MWp. They stressed that “this park will allow an 8.4% increase in renewable power on the island of Mallorca, from the current 148.8 MW to 161.33 MW”.
TDB keeps you informed. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
The visit was also attended by the Mayor of Palma, José Hila, accompanied by Rafael González, Endesa’s General Manager for Generation, and Martí Ribas, Endesa’s General Manager for the Balearic Islands.
The new Son Reus wind farm is in the final phase of construction and is expected to come into operation next May. The Son Reus solar plant has an installed capacity of 12.53 MWp (peak capacity) and 10.73 MWn (nominal capacity) and a production of 20.17 GWh/year and will have a total of 58 inverters of 185 kVA each and six double transformation centres. During the construction phase, an average of 57 workers per week were involved in the work, reaching a peak of 189.
It should be noted that this project belongs to a group of renewable energy projects that Endesa is building in the Balearic Islands together with Sa Caseta, Biniatria, Son Orlandis and Ca na Lloreta, located in the Balearic Islands with a total capacity of 56.6 MWp and co-financed by ERDF funds, with a total investment of 47 million euros. This set of projects, Sa Caseta, with a capacity of 21.83 MWp, and Biniatria, with a capacity of 14.97 MWp, are already in production, while Son Orlandis and Ca na Lloreta are under construction.
In addition to this technical part, the installation will include new environmental measures, such as the planting by Endesa of 1,119 almond and carob trees on a dry farming estate in the vicinity of the Sa Caseta solar plant (Llucmajor) to guarantee the conservation of the agricultural area, which until now had no agricultural activity.
In the words of Vice President Yllanes, “this park will generate energy equivalent to 5,000 homes and reduce the emission of 16,499 tonnes of CO2. I would like to point out that this wind farm that we are visiting today was one of the first to receive a grant from the ERDF through the SOLBAL programme. Thanks to the implementation of this project, the Balearic Islands are taking another step forward in the challenge of decarbonisation. It is important to continue to support renewables, a vital source of energy in a context of energy crisis and that we are seeing how in recent days is reaching peaks of more than 20% of the energy produced by the sun”. “In 2021, photovoltaic solar energy increased by 58.7% compared to 2020 and this park will contribute to continuing increasing these figures even more next year”, added Yllanes, while stressing that “from the Government, we are clear that the energy transition must also be a just transition, and that is why we look favourably on the environmental and social measures that are also carried out in this type of process”.
Rafael Sánchez pointed out that “Endesa is firmly committed to decarbonising the energy mix by 2040, which is why we are making an effort to develop new renewable capacity in the Balearic Islands”. He also stressed, “the importance of these solar plants being built, always taking into account the environments in which we operate, because it is not just a question of building new renewable capacity, but of doing so with the agreement of everyone”.
For his part, Martí Ribas stressed the importance of private companies and the administration working together, as well as joining forces to advance on the road to energy transition: “It is essential to work hand in hand with the administrations to advance in a fair and inclusive energy transition. For this reason, we are developing training courses in the operation and maintenance of renewable energy plants in the municipalities where we build our plants”.
Likewise, the Director-General of Energy and Climate Change, Pep Malagrava, indicated that “the photovoltaic parks are essential to achieve the climate objectives of the autonomous community in terms of reducing emissions and the penetration of renewables. This park, in an industrialised environment such as Son Reus, is what we want to promote from the public administration”.